Intravenous (IV) stands are in common use in hospitals, nursing home and facilities in which patients must receive fluids while in beds or in transport. These stands frequently are a base with wheels and a stand projecting vertically to a height above the patient, for attachment of the fluid containers to permit gravity flow of the fluid. This configuration is not very stable since the stand can be rolled away from the patient unintentionally while the connecting tubes are still attached to the patient. Also the stand with the fluid container elevated above the patient is top heavy and can topple. A further problem is the difficulty in transporting the patient and having to move the IV stand synchronously with the patient transport (e.g. bed or gurney). This is especially important in critical care units where the patient requiring intravenous infusion has been placed in a bed and must be moved while still in the same bed. However, it is also needed in a hospital room where the patient is not being transported but still requires a stable IV stand which can be easily moved to provide unimpeded access to the patient. To overcome these problems, means for attaching the upright stand to the patient support have been designed. These include a rigid connector between the IV stand and the bed so that both can be rolled together, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,157 issued to Wilt, Jr., U.S. Pat. No, 4,511,158 issued to Varga et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,209 issued to Kerr, Jr. and various means for attaching the upright member of the IV stand to the patient support device, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,963 issued to Shepherd, U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,372 issued to Alexander and U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,943 issued to Wilhelman et al and U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,880 issued to Florek. The latter designs frequently interfere with access to the patient by the medical staff and are fixed in place, thereby limiting their utility.
A need exists for a simple device which can be attached to both the patient support apparatus and the upright column of an intravenous stand while permitting the intravenous stand to be stably placed in any desired position with relation to the patient. The device should also be capable of being stored without interfering with access to the patient.